Feijóo refuses an interview with EL PAÍS during the election campaign

The candidate of the People’s Party for the presidency of the government, Alberto Núñez Viejo, rejected EL PAÍS’ proposal to conduct the traditional campaign interview, the same interview that this newspaper proposed to all parties with a patriotic impression. EL PAÍS interviews Pedro Sánchez, PSOE Candidate. To Yolanda Diaz, from Somar, and offering this possibility to both Feijóo and Santiago Abascal, from Vox. Neither of them accepted it. Officially, the proposal was not rejected, but the end of the campaign came and the candidate of the Popular Party found no place to grant an interview to the main newspaper in the country he aspires to rule. This newspaper has offered the leader of the People’s Party his availability in any gap his schedule allows.

There are not many precedents for a candidate with aspirations to get to La Moncloa who denies an election interview with the main newspaper of his country, the most widely read not only in Spain but also in the European Chancelleries to get to know the Spanish reality. Until now, and since EL PAÍS has been the leading newspaper in Spanish journalism, for more than 40 years, it did so only when Jose María Aznar was in government in 2000 and Mariano Rajoy in 2015 and 2016. Both in opposition gave interviews. Since he was the leader of the People’s Party, Feijóo gave an interview to EL PAÍS, on August 13 last year. In the previous phase directed by Pablo Casado, Presentation of the head of the PP interviews with EL PAÍS.

This is an unusual situation in the major European democracies. Feijóo’s People’s Party, in addition to not granting the electoral interview, did not allow EL PAÍS to interview its local candidates or its usual spokespeople, who also had unanswered requests from this newspaper.

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